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Executive and Legislative documents laid before the General Assembly of North-Carolina [1869; 1870]

•^ Document No. 21. [Session
])eariiit^ and is evidently out of place) tlio 29tli section pro-vides
:
" Sec, 29. The election for members of the General Assem-bly
shall be held for the res))ective Districts and Counties, at tlie
jilaces wliere they are now lield, or maybe directed hereafter to
bo lield, in sucli manner as may be ]>rescribed by law, on the
tirst Tliursday in Aui>ust, in the year one thousand eight hun-dred
and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But the
(leneral Assembly may change the time of holding the elec-tions.
The first election shall be held when the vote shall be
taken on the ratification ot this Constitution by the voters of
the State, and the (xeneral Assembl}'- then elected, shall meet
on the fifteenth day after the approval thereof bj' the Congress
of the United States, if it fall not on Sunday, but if it shall so
fall, then on the next day thereafter ; and the members then
elected shall hold their seats until tlieir successors are elected
at a regular election."
Here it is ordained tiiat an election for mend^ers of the Gen-eral
Assembly shall be held at the place and in the manner
])rescribed l»y law, on the \st Thursday in August, 1870.
The words are plain and positive—there is no room for con-struction.
An election for members of the General Assembly
must be held on that day, or else the Constitution will be vio-lated.
This is a stubborn fact. It presents an insurmountable
obstacle to the construction giving a double term. A new set
of members must ])e elected in August, 1870. If the present
members ai-e to hold over, there will be two sets of members
for the same term ! ! ! Tiic only mode of escape from this ab-surdity
is either to follow a literal construction of the second
clause of the 27th section, by which the terms of the present
meml)ers terminate at the time of the election of a new set of
.members, or else to treat it as surplusage—being ambiguous,
unnecessary, (for the last clause of see. 29 covers the same
ground.) and conflicting witli the 29th section, which is ex-pressed
in plain and positive words, is of vital importance, as
containing the provisions necessary to put in operation the

•^ Document No. 21. [Session
])eariiit^ and is evidently out of place) tlio 29tli section pro-vides
:
" Sec, 29. The election for members of the General Assem-bly
shall be held for the res))ective Districts and Counties, at tlie
jilaces wliere they are now lield, or maybe directed hereafter to
bo lield, in sucli manner as may be ]>rescribed by law, on the
tirst Tliursday in Aui>ust, in the year one thousand eight hun-dred
and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But the
(leneral Assembly may change the time of holding the elec-tions.
The first election shall be held when the vote shall be
taken on the ratification ot this Constitution by the voters of
the State, and the (xeneral Assembl}'- then elected, shall meet
on the fifteenth day after the approval thereof bj' the Congress
of the United States, if it fall not on Sunday, but if it shall so
fall, then on the next day thereafter ; and the members then
elected shall hold their seats until tlieir successors are elected
at a regular election."
Here it is ordained tiiat an election for mend^ers of the Gen-eral
Assembly shall be held at the place and in the manner
])rescribed l»y law, on the \st Thursday in August, 1870.
The words are plain and positive—there is no room for con-struction.
An election for members of the General Assembly
must be held on that day, or else the Constitution will be vio-lated.
This is a stubborn fact. It presents an insurmountable
obstacle to the construction giving a double term. A new set
of members must ])e elected in August, 1870. If the present
members ai-e to hold over, there will be two sets of members
for the same term ! ! ! Tiic only mode of escape from this ab-surdity
is either to follow a literal construction of the second
clause of the 27th section, by which the terms of the present
meml)ers terminate at the time of the election of a new set of
.members, or else to treat it as surplusage—being ambiguous,
unnecessary, (for the last clause of see. 29 covers the same
ground.) and conflicting witli the 29th section, which is ex-pressed
in plain and positive words, is of vital importance, as
containing the provisions necessary to put in operation the